Why this is important.
One of the most important duties of governing boards is hiring promising presidents and developing them into enterprising leaders. The success of higher education depends on presidential leadership, and boards utilize presidential assessments to assess executive performance and leadership capabilities.
Presidential assessments continually adapt to today’s ever-changing higher education environment. Effective assessments are not only tailored to the needs of the presidency, but also provide meaningful feedback and substantive professional development opportunities for presidents. While annual assessments remain important milestones, more frequent “check-ins” between presidents and boards are essential to meet the current realities of higher education and prevent future crises.
AGB empowers our members to reexamine their traditional assessment tools and embrace dynamic assessments that enable boards to develop thoughtful presidents who effectively respond to the unique blend of challenges impacting higher education today.
Source: Assessing and Developing College and University Presidents: An Enterprise Leadership Approach by Terrence MacTaggart, AGB 2020
Questions for boards.
Click below to reveal key questions for your board to consider:
Goals
Consequential Questions:
- What does our board expect to learn from this broad assessment?
- What actions should we be able to take based on this assessment?
Source:
Assessing and Developing College and University Presidents: An Enterprise Leadership Approach by Terrence MacTaggart, AGB 2020
Process
Consequential Questions:
- How will enterprise status, trends, and leadership figure into this assessment?
- Who should the consultant conducting the presidential assessment interview?
- What steps should we take to ensure confidentiality?
Source:
Assessing and Developing College and University Presidents: An Enterprise Leadership Approach by Terrence MacTaggart, AGB 2020
Outcomes
Consequential Questions:
- What work product does our board need from an external, objective consultant leading the presidential assessment for the project to be considered a success?
- What role does educational quality play in presidential decision-making?
Source:
Assessing and Developing College and University Presidents: An Enterprise Leadership Approach by Terrence MacTaggart, AGB 2020
Recommended resources.
We carefully curated these staff-picked resources for you:
Assessing and Developing College and University Presidents: An Enterprise Leadership Approach
2020
Terrence MacTaggart
Presidential Assessments
FAQs
AGB
AGB President & CEO Update: Strategies to Support the CEO
Blog Post
Ellen Chaffee
Foundation CEO Assessment
Blog Post
David Bass
Improve Presidential Tenure through Assessments
Webinar On Demand
Moderated by Natalie Boehm
Preparing for a Presidential Assessment: Board Responsibilities, Timing, Process, and More!
Webinar On Demand
Moderated by Chris Moloney
Chat with AGB Board Bot